After the violent incident in the cockpit of a Flydubai flight on the way to Tel Aviv, the Israeli government is assuming an attempted terrorist attack. According to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, one of the pilots stabbed his colleague with a knife as the plane approached Israel in the morning. Netanyahu said he apparently intended to crash the plane with the passengers. Defense Minister Israel Katz spoke of an “attempted jihadist attack” that was only thwarted thanks to the courage of Israeli passengers.
According to the Israeli government and passengers, the attacker was overpowered. The plane that took off from Dubai was able to make an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. According to the Emirati state airline Flydubai, a second crew who traveled in the cabin took over the controls. In the evening, the passengers were safely taken to Tel Aviv Airport on board a replacement plane, where relatives hugged them.
Plane sent out emergency codes
Tabuk Airport said the captain and first officer were taken to hospital with injuries. There was initially no information about any other injuries. All passengers and crew are safe, Flydubai said.
It was previously reported that the plane first sent the code 7700, which indicates an emergency, and then the code 7500, which is used to report a hijacking. Flydubai confirmed an altercation in the cockpit of flight FZ1073, but gave no further details. The responsible authorities in Saudi Arabia initially did not comment on what happened on board.
Israeli media reported that there were 174 passengers on board, including 27 children. Netanyahu said almost all of the passengers were Israelis. The attacker has been arrested and is currently being questioned by the Saudi Arabian security authorities. The Prime Minister said he had instructed the Israeli security forces to prepare for “potential further threats,” without giving further details.
The airline's statement said the background and motives for the incident were unclear. The company urged people to refrain from speculation while the investigation continues.
According to Israel's assessment, the suspected attacker was a lone perpetrator, as the Kan TV station reported. There is no indication that a state or a terrorist organization could be the mastermind of the incident, it said, citing security circles.
The plane went into a dive
The Israeli news portal “ynet” reported that the plane flew steeply at the beginning of the incident. Various videos showed people on board the plane, some covered in blood. They also reported a terrorist incident.
Netanyahu said a passenger described to him during a telephone conversation how the plane began to spin and went into a nosedive. According to the description, the passenger and a crew member managed to get into the cockpit. Together they switched off the attacker while he tried to damage the on-board devices.
Israel's head of government expressed his respect "for the heroes who showed extraordinary presence of mind and daring." “You saved many lives, you prevented a serious catastrophe,” said Netanyahu.
Conflicting information about the origins of the pilots
The Israeli news portal “ynet” reported that the suspected co-pilot came from Oman. However, there was initially no official confirmation of this. According to the report, the pilot who was attacked is said to be Indian. Initially it was said that the pilot was of Russian origin and the co-pilot was of Ukrainian origin. According to the Moscow state news agency Tass, the Russian Consulate General in Dubai told the Moscow state news agency that the reports about a Russian pilot in the cockpit did not correspond to the facts. The consulate received information from the airline that there were no Russian citizens on board.
Passengers report panic and screaming on board
An Israeli woman told the TV station N12 that there was great fear among the passengers and that there were “screams and panic”. “Some men, including Israelis, stood up and overpowered the attacker,” she said. The plane's passengers are now doing well. “The situation could have ended differently,” she said.
Another Israeli woman told the station that she heard screaming on the plane and then saw a lot of blood in the cockpit. “There were moments when we thought we wouldn’t make it out alive.”
A video shows the anxious moments on board the plane as it went into a nosedive. In the video posted on social media in Israel, frightened passengers and dramatic scenes can be seen. According to media reports, the plane fell around 4,000 meters in about a minute. “What happened?” a woman in the video repeatedly asks in Hebrew, sobbing desperately. Passengers are asked via loudspeakers to remain seated.
Flydubai is a low-cost airline based at the important hub Dubai and primarily serves connections between Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. According to information on its website, the airline's fleet includes almost 100 Boeing 737 aircraft. Destinations in 56 countries are served.
Israel's relations with the Gulf states
The United Arab Emirates recognized Israel in 2020 as part of a rapprochement agreement and has since increased cooperation in the areas of economics and defense, among other things. Dubai has become a popular travel destination among Israelis in recent years. Netanyahu only traveled to the Emirates on Sunday at the invitation of President Mohammed bin Sajid.
The direct flight from Saudi Arabia, which brought the passengers to Tel Aviv in the evening, is a rarity: the kingdom and Israel do not yet have diplomatic relations. However, according to media reports, the countries are working together behind the scenes in some areas. A possible normalization of relations has been the subject of diplomatic efforts for years, but has been viewed as increasingly unlikely since the Gaza war.
The last time a passenger plane was hijacked on the way to Israel was in 1972: the plane belonging to the Belgian airline Sabena was on the way from Brussels to Tel Aviv when it was hijacked by Palestinian terrorists. After landing, Israeli special forces stormed the plane and overpowered the hijackers.
